chicagoland GEographies

the geographies of chicagoland are intricate, contested, and always shifting. they consist of various definitions, understandings, and lived realities that are both subjectively and objectively defined by residents, real estate companies, and the city, suburbs, villages, and towns that make up the city-region. the lived realities of these geographies also differ based on racialized identity due to the extreme racial and class based segregation embedded in the fabric of the city-region.

although chicago was founded by jean baptiste pointe dusable, a Black man of french hatian descent, Black residents have lived in and moved through a city-region that has brought significant sociopolitical, cultural, and geographic struggle, economic disenfranchisement, tremendous anguish and pain, and death as a result of their racialized positioning. Black life in chicagoland is also full of radiant jubilation, cultural and musical innovation, triumphant history, togetherness, Black placemaking, impenetrable love, power, and enormous laughter that is a joy to behold. we document these realities through the geographies, images, music, and sounds that reflect the multifaceted, infinite, and captivating contours of Black chicagoland.

Black life in chicagoland is often reduced to the south side through specific neighborhoods and community areas that ignore the depths of the south side, Black migration patterns across the city-region, and other sides of town, the suburbs, villages, and unincorporated areas that make up the chicago metropolitan area. our project highlights these places, histories, and an expansive examination of the south side to construct a more accurate reflection of Black chicagoness. as our project expands, we will add more information about the Black geographies and Black migration patterns across the city-region. for now, we have compiled a list that offers a sense of the spatial organization of the city-center as a primer for understanding the geography in our work.

community areas

chicago is divided into 77 community areas designed by the social science research committee at the university of chicago in 1920. these boundaries remain static in order to gather data about the city that can be analyzed across time. five criteria to denote community area boundaries include:

settlement, growth, and history of the area
local identification with the area
local trade area
distribution of membership of local institutions
natural and artificial barriers

chicago was originally broken down by 75 community areas. however, a 76th community area (o'hare) formed when chicago annexed o’hare International airport in the 1950s. in 1980, the community area of edgewater separated from uptown creating the 77th community area. most chicagoans do not recognize community areas as the places in which they live and many are unaware that they exist. click here to access an interactive community area map. to access individual pdfs of each community area, click here and scroll to community area maps. check the list below for all community areas organized by name and number. to denote where our images and sound recordings are taken, we include the name and number of the corresponding community area.

photo credit: wbez

list of community areas by name | number

01 Rogers Park

02 West Ridge

03 Uptown

04 Lincoln Square

05 North Center

06 Lake View

07 Lincoln Park

08 Near North Side

09 Edison Park

10 Norwood Park

11 Jefferson Park

12 Forest Glen

13 North Park

14 Albany Park

15 Portage Park

16 Irving Park

17 Dunning

18 Montclare

19 Belmont Cragin

20 Hermosa

21 Avondale

22 Logan Square

23 Humboldt Park

24 West Town

25 Austin

26 West Garfield Park

27 East Garfield Park

28 Near West Side

29 North Lawndale

30 South Lawndale

31 Lower West Side

32 The Loop

33 Near South Side

34 Armour Square

35 Douglas

36 Oakland

37 Fuller Park

38 Grand Boulevard

39 Kenwood

40 Washington Park

41 Hyde Park

42 Woodlawn

43 South Shore

44 Chatham

45 Avalon Park

46 South Chicago

47 Burnside

48 Calumet Heights

49 Roseland

50 Pullman

51 South Deering

52 East Side

53 West Pullman

54 Riverdale

55 Hegewisch

56 Garfield Ridge

57 Archer Heights

58 Brighton Park

59 McKinley Park

60 Bridgeport

61 New City

62 West Elsdon

63 Gage Park

64 Clearing

65 West Lawn

66 Chicago Lawn

67 West Englewood

68 Englewood

69 Greater Grand Crossing

70 Ashburn

71 Auburn Gresham

72 Beverly

73 Washington Heights

74 Mount Greenwood

75 Morgan Park

76 O'Hare

77 Edgewater

neighborhoods

chicago is known as the “the city of neighborhoods” due to the large number of neighborhoods throughout the city. each neighborhood has unique, identifiable characteristics and most chicagoans recognize neighborhoods as the places in which they live, work, and socialize. neighborhoods are located within community areas and some even share the same name of the community area that they are located in (e.g. rogers park) while others do not (e.g. bronzeville is a neighborhood within the community areas of grand boulevard, douglas, and oakland). community areas and neighborhoods are often used interchangeably by chicagoans, but there are significant differences, including size, boundary, and historical change. in 1993, city council approved a map of chicago neighborhoods stemming from a community survey that was conducted in 1978. click here to access an interactive version of this map. still, according to the city of chicago, "city government does not recognize or use chicago neighborhood boundaries for any official purposes."

photo credit: giordanos (chicagoans love our pizza! (not deep dish though))

"sides of town"

chicago consists of various "sides of the town" based on cardinal (north, south, east, west) and intercardinal (northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast) directions that have identifying markers. the city recognizes three sides of town (north, south, west) represented by the white stripes on the city’s flag. these regional divisions are dictated by the chicago river although the boundaries vary according to chicagoans and real estate companies. also, if you listen close enough, you can hear the distinct ways chicagoans identify various sides of town, including out south (south side), out west (west side), up north (north side), and over east (east side).

based on the street numbering system, madison street is the north | south dividing line and state street is the east | west dividing line. the south side (the largest side of town) is defined as the community areas that are south of the main branch of the chicago river. the north side (most densely populated side of town) consists of areas that are north of the main branch of the chicago river. the west side (the smallest side of town) maintains community areas west of the chicago river. the city does not recognize an east side (not to be confused with the east side community area) due to lake michigan, which dominates the city’s most eastern boundary. while there is no east side listed on the corresponding map, some chicagoans (including both of us) and real estate companies recognize an east side and a distinct culture connected to it.

photo credit: wikipedia

aldermanic wards

the chicago city council consists of 50 aldermanic wards (electoral districts) represented by alderpersons who are elected every four years. this system has been in place since 1923. to ensure equal representation throughout the city, ward borders are adjusted after every federal census to reflect changes in population (you can find redistricting maps here). some wards consist of many community areas and neighborhoods and have identifiable characteristics linked to the area and the alderpersons who represent them. click this link to access individual maps for each ward.